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The brothers are among nine Tulare County firefighters who are now trained for swift water rescues. With a downpour of rain this winter, Tulare County officials decided it was time to give firefighters an extra tool in their arsenal.

The new skills were added to help complement Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, which is called out several times a year.

“The service has only been around a couple months, but we’ve already had three callouts,” fire Capt. Joe Rosa said. “The sheriff’s department does a great job, but can take a long time to get to the scene. We can get their fast, do a primary screen and recover, if necessary.”

The fire department’s first call was a rescue on the Kaweah River after water rose and flooded a bridge. A man tried to drive across the bridge and the swift waters flipped the man’s truck.

He was trapped.

Just two days after becoming certified in swift water rescue, the team of Tulare County firefighters saved the man as water flooded the pickup truck.

“It was a culmination of training and timing,” Casey Lewis said. “The two were perfect.”

Just days later, with canals rising quickly, water flooded an Alpaugh man’s home. The man was stuck and firefighters again came to the rescue.

On Tuesday, the Lewis brothers were suited up and ready to dive into the Tulare Irrigation District canal. The frigid water was flowing when calls came in of a Ford F-250 in the canal.

No one knew if anyone was in the cab of the pickup.

“We don’t ever want to see anyone in there, but we are ready if there is,” Tyson Lewis said. “We are here for immediate, swift water life-saving rescue.”

The truck was empty and was likely stolen and ditched to remove traces of evidence that could help officers catch the thieves.

Nonetheless, Tyson Lewis risked it all and went into the water, his brother held the rope that kept Tyson stable.

Casey Lewis has spent nearly 100 hours training for emergency water rescues. The training starts with an eight-hour course. It moves on to a three-day course for “simple” rescues and elevates from there as rescues become more complex.

He will soon be teaching classes locally to first responders, as the team moves their way up from swift water operations to swift water technicians.

“We can decrease how long someone is in the water,” he said. “And that can mean the difference between life and death.”